Tao Shiatsu Introductory Course

For those interested in learning more about the deep healing of Tao Shiatsu:

This 40-hour Introductory Course will start September 29 and 30, 2018,(One weekend a month x3).
Participants will study the basic principles of Tao Shiatsu and have hands-on practice of all the elements of Tao Shiatsu, including Meridian Yoga, Renki (similar to Tao Chi), Aiki, Ki & Heart work, Tsubos, Meridians, and a Basic Shiatsu Form.

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Working on My Heart and Emotions

Ms. M.M. (from Tokyo)

One day I came across Ryokyu sensei’s book Tao Shiatsu: Life Medicine for the 21st Century. The book shows how Tao Shiatsu was structured through Ryokyu sensei’s realizations from his training and experience based on Oriental medical philosophy. Its contents may be criticized by some people, but I felt that it was easier to understand compared to some academic Oriental medicine books. I also felt pulled in by an empathic feeling. I actually loved it so much that I recommended it to my friend.

Finally, when I began to wish to receive Tao Shiatsu and realized that it was possible, I didn’t hesitate to try it.

When I was in my late thirties, my hair began to turn gray, and in my forties, my eyesight became so weak that I required glasses, and my hair became thin as well.

I began to think that I was being affected by kidney Ki, which weakens life energy, according to a book I read about Oriental medicine philosophy. So I thought, “What can I do about this?” I started to eat black beans, which nourish kidney Ki, but the speed of aging went faster than my ability to contain it based on my poor knowledge.

That’s why, when I decided to receive Tao Shiatsu, I had very little expectation that it would help. What can help deal with the slow invader called “aging” outside of empathy and acceptance?

I have had four treatments. There were no obvious improvements, such as being able to see close objects or not losing too much hair, and so on, but I have had very interesting experiences nonetheless.

It simply feels good to receive Tao Shiatsu treatment. On top of that, after receiving the basic form and feeling the Jaki (unnecessary energy) that was flowing through my Kyo (deficient) Meridian toward the tips of my fingers, it made me feel light. My mind and body became very refreshed.

At my second treatment, I was asked about my ankle, which I broke about 15 years ago and long since forgot about because it hasn’t been painful. But, somehow, it started to hurt the day after my treatment. I informed my therapist and was told that old wounds are often suppressed before they can completely heal and they need to reappear or resurface in order to heal properly. I sensed how mysterious my body was; I love my body.

After the third treatment, I realized that I had to confront a weak part of myself, of my personality. It was a shock that I hadn’t realized it and hadn’t thought about it for such a long time: I criticize myself too much.

I just hung on until my fourth treatment. I was tense and stiff, but while receiving the basic form of Tao Shiatsu, which made me relax, my heart also started to relax. I told the therapist that I realized that I was very critical of myself, and it was so hard to bear. Then I was told that I should just accept myself without criticism. And as I tried to do this and continued to do it, my situation began to change. Hidden and suppressed issues such as my ankle wound and the weakness of my heart, my feelings about myself, continue to come to the surface and appear to be healed through receiving Tao Shiatsu, even without my being conscious of it.

I think the purpose of Tao Shiatsu treatment is to heal symptoms in the body, but at the same time, the cause of those symptoms also gets healed. I have only had four treatments, but have experienced constant chances to change myself. I feel a sense of expectation and am willing to observe the way my heart and body are and where they are going.

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From Despair to Seeing the Light

Y.Y. (female in her forties, lives in Yokohama)

Many years ago, I was diagnosed with atrophic rhinitis, otherwise known as ozena. My symptoms included bad headaches, pain in my face, an oppressive pain in my nose, dullness, colored mucus, and a very bad-smelling nose discharge. The nose discharge had such a bad odor that I had difficulty leading a social life and ended up staying at home for almost 14 years.

This disease can be treated surgically, but there is no guarantee of complete recovery. Besides, I had already been through many hardships, so it was traumatic to think about going to a hospital for surgery.

I was also reluctant to take antibiotics. I was worried about what would happen to me if antibiotic-resistant bacteria infected me. I was at quite a loss as to what to do.

Tao Shiatsu was a last resort

One day I found the book Tao Shiatsu: Life Medicine for the 21st Century by Ryokyu Endo on Amazon. I became interested in “energy flow” a few years ago when I went for an osteopathic massage and felt it during treatment. Because of this, I bought the book, but at that time I didn’t think it related to my condition because I didn’t think that shiatsu therapy could heal this type of disease.

This book, as well as Revolution in Oriental Medicine: Tao Shiatsu, helped me really understand for the first time how worry is often the cause of illness. I was most surprised by a clinical case of someone who had pneumonia and was medicated with antibiotics. The doctor told him that he wouldn’t get better because drug-resistant bacteria had appeared. This patient received Tao Shiatsu a few times and pneumonia completely disappeared. I was deeply moved when I read this and felt like I now had a ray of hope.

I checked out other holistic-related therapies on the Internet, including Oriental medicine and qigong, but thought that Tao Shiatsu seemed to be the most effective. I agree with the philosophy that the relationship between energy flow and the state of one’s mind can affect health and healing. I had feelings of despair and loneliness (because nobody understood my disease), and felt like I wanted to die. I’m not exaggerating; it was the last resort for me.

Treatment for the first time

When I met my therapist for the first time, he had a smiling and happy air about him. I told him that I smelled awful, and he accepted it without hesitating, which was quite impressive. He accepted me as I was. He said, “Nothing is dirty.” At this moment, the Buddhist Heart Sutra flashed across my mind, and I sensed his accepting heart. It was a relief for me because I thought for years that I was dirty and had a lot of shame about my condition.

Before the treatment began, my eyelids started to go into convulsions. Once he started, I felt the pressure of his fingers was affecting places on my body other than where he was pressing. It felt painful yet comfortable.

When he pressed on my belly I felt something like energy slipping into my body and moving toward my head. Then an image like an expanse of tiny white particles appeared and there was a “soothing” and “safe” feeling around me. At this moment, I sobbed loudly. I had never cried so much. My whole body cried. It was so explosive that I couldn’t believe it. My whole body trembled, down to my legs. The therapist helped stop the trembling and, afterward, I unselfconsciously told him that I had been hard on myself and that I wanted to forgive myself.

Before the treatment, I was full of despair. That night, I was filled with a sense of security that I had never felt before. I would describe it this way: “healing Buddha-nature energy” had entered me.

Miraculous change, swaying the mind

Two months later I was able to take a walk in my neighborhood. I went for a drive every day during the New Year holiday this year, which was absolutely epoch-making. This was miraculous to me. I felt positive and a little bit better.

A friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in a long time told me that I looked so cheerful she didn’t recognize me! I did feel cheerful and my body was light. The Tao Shiatsu therapist said that it was because my energy flow had improved. After that, I didn’t have any symptoms that made me require painkillers. The pain caused by nasal discomfort while sleeping was greatly reduced, but I still had symptoms, such as the bad smell and mucus.

I had strong physical reactions to some of the treatments. The worst symptoms lasted for two or three days. As an example, at one point, half my face swelled up. But after a reaction would subside, I would notice the symptoms diminishing, so I didn’t get scared and didn’t feel distrustful at all; rather, I was sure that I would get better.

During the course of my treatments, I came to feel uneasy about what to do if I didn’t get better. On such occasions, the therapist patiently supported me and cheered me up.

I became even more determined to trust Tao Shiatsu and prayed for more “miracles” to happen not only for myself but also for whoever was suffering with these same symptoms, as well as for my therapist who treated me so wholeheartedly. Then, suddenly, the symptoms changed and my recovery accelerated. The bad smell remained, but it was much less than before.

Full of hope!

I had been sick for 16 years, so it’s really surprising that I’ve gotten so much better in only five months. I’m now full of hope. I couldn’t have considered it when, a few months ago, I was in the depths of the worst of my situation. Thank heaven I’m alive!

I think that, as Mr. Endo writes in his book, it’s important for a patient to open his or her heart and trust the therapist. When I became sick I read philosophy books, psychology books, and spiritual books and was relieved to some degree, but the pain was unchanged. It’s because I always had a pain in my “Heart.”

Throughout these months of Tao Shiatsu treatment, I’ve learned what it really means to “feel my feelings” through my heart and body, and I also realized that we can’t live alone.

Now I open my heart and energy flows into me through Tao Shiatsu, breaking through the membrane of suffering, and my lonely heart dissolves. All living things are tied to each other … I think that treatment probably starts from that realization.

Those who suffer from not only physical but also mental distress can benefit from Tao Shiatsu; I’m sure they’ll be soothed and feel remarkably light in mind and body.

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For some reason, I want to continue treatment

M.U. (female in her forties, lives in Tokyo)

I fell down the steps at a station at the end of November. I took it lightly and just put poultices on my legs, but the dull pain didn’t disappear even after the new year.

At a New Year’s gathering I was unable to sit on my heels with my back straight, so I couldn’t set a good example for the children.

It was at this time that I was given advice that Oriental medicine can help with chronic pain, but I didn’t think I should do anything about it right away. Just by chance I found a new title in the library called Revolution in Oriental Medicine: Tao Shiatsu and left it half-read on my desk at the office. A person who was visiting the company saw it and said, “A friend of mine went to a Tao Shiatsu workshop and said it was good.” I found out about it and made an appointment by phone.

My first impression of Tao Shiatsu therapy was that it was different from the type of massage I had already tried, which involved pressing and rubbing knots to remove stiffness from muscles. It was a strange impression.

I felt a bit of pain, yet it felt good, depending on the part of my body that was being treated. On the whole, I felt the pressure was much lighter than in other treatments I had tried and it felt different depending where on my body the therapist was working. Parts of my body that weren’t being treated reacted to the pressure being applied. For example, when the back of my neck was pressed, my ankle throbbed with pain. And when my shoulder was pressed, from my arm to the back of my neck smarted with pain. And when my leg was pressed, my abdomen on that side became firm. It was like whack-a-mole and the drainage valve for an underground conduit being opened and shut. When the treatment ended, the pain in my ankle disappeared and I felt my whole body was light.

I recall that I had physical reactions the next day. I am in good health, but I felt that I was slow and my head was not working, although I was not feeble-minded.

I am usually focused at my job but I couldn’t work as well as usual. However, from the day after the first treatment, only a little pain in my ankle remained, and it was like that for five days until the second treatment. So I lived life to the full in mind and body.

Changes continued to occur: I had my period in the third week. Usually I am a controlled person, but when I have my period I often explode in anger, cornering people with arguments and giving them trouble. But this time I didn’t do that, and my period was light in amount. However, I began to feel that I didn’t have enough energy. Up until that time, I had been able to handle whatever needed to be done, but I began to feel and think “I don’t want to do this” or “I’m tired.”

In the past I used to feel refreshed after a good night’s sleep and would wake up at a time I had decided on. But after the second treatment I was unable to wake up unless the alarm rang. Sometimes I would inadvertently oversleep.

I used to sleep for between four-and-a-half and six hours almost every night. When I was busy, I would sleep about three hours, but this worked for me. However, I now regularly sleep for six hours. I become too tired to do what needs to be done for two consecutive days if I sleep only four-and-a-half hours.

I often have complaints about people that I have to deal with, people who are close to me. As a result, I regularly appear to be cross when I’m at work. However, the number of times I explode in anger has now lessened. The strong feeling of deadlock I had before rarely appears. But, on the whole, I somehow feel my self-control has become worse.

Three months have passed now and I am able to sit on my heels with my back straight again. But this doesn’t mean the pain has disappeared, and I have trouble with numbness that I didn’t feel before. Also, I’m surprised that I’m tired even after six hours of sleep. That never happened in the past.

The pain in the arch of my foot that I had when I was a child returned, and skin eruptions on my jaw that I was troubled with as a child came back. The Tao Shiatsu therapist explained to me that those were temporary physical reactions to the treatments, and if you ask me whether I am better now, I can’t wholeheartedly approve of the results. Still, although it may sound strange, I want to continue receiving treatments.

My upper arm and elbow started to throb with pain a year ago. It became so painful that I couldn’t sleep well at night. The doctor I went to see diagnosed my illness as tennis elbow. After that, I put poultices on my arm and received massage from an osteopath. But these treatments were effective only to the extent that I found temporary relief.

Meanwhile, my neck began to throb with pain, so I went to see a doctor. He said to me, “You have a hernia, so you have no choice but to receive traction on your elbow or undergo surgery.” So, traction was used on my elbow over and over again, but I didn’t feel better at all.

A friend of mine recommended Tao Shiatsu therapy to me when I was at my wit’s end, so I lost no time in going to the Tao Sangha Center in Kyoto.

I underwent therapy in the calm and tidy atmosphere of the Tao Sangha Center. My pain eased and I felt relieved.

Female living in JapanI had a car accident three years ago. I was hit from behind while waiting for a green light. The orthopaedic doctor diagnosed me with whiplash.

The treatment I received was the application of low-frequency electrical waves (something like that), traction to my jaws by a machine, and then a 10-minute massage on my face, plus compression and oral medication. I continued this for a month, and when I felt no pain, the treatment was considered to be finished.

I’ve had a sore shoulder since I was thirty and I realized that it was becoming worse. I had almost forgotten about the accident.

Moreover, my neck started to become painful again. I thought it was a side effect from the car accident, so I went back to the same place. An X-ray was taken and I found out that my neck bone had become very straight; it no longer has the normal curve that a neckbone should have. I was told that my vertebral disc and nerve were not damaged, so the same treatment was applied for 10 days.

I felt that I couldn’t trust this place because they knew that my neck bone didn’t have a normal curve, but the treatment was the same as for whiplash. I wondered whether the treatment was the cause of problem. I began to think that this was not the treatment I wanted. I wanted to determine and cure the cause of the pain.

I expressed my feelings to a friend who is studying Tao Shiatsu therapy and my friend suggested that I get a treatment, so I arranged for an appointment. The therapist that I met with explained to me that all of the blood vessels in my body shrunk to avoid bleeding out when I had the shock of the accident, and one of the meridians distorted at the same time and stayed that way. The pain in my neck and shoulder developed as a side effect, as well as limitation of mobility.

During treatment, I felt an echo along my entire arm like something moving down it, but somehow felt warm and safe. While the treatment continued along my whole body, I experienced pain in my lower back. I told the practitioner about this. He explained that the shock of the accident must be affecting my lower back too, but my attention had been more on the pain of the whiplash, so the issue in my lower back went into a deeper state and was hidden in my subconscious; he suggested that while I was receiving treatment, the pain came to the surface. So, in this way, I received treatment for a symptom that I didn’t even know I had.

The pain in my neck decreased by about 50 percent after the first treatment; after the the second treatment, which was a week later, it was even less. I was so glad, because the result was surprisingly good. I was able to put my trust in Tao Shiatsu therapy and in the therapist as communication between us deepened. I also learned something about food that is not so good for our bodies, so I’ve quit eating food containing white sugar.

K.T. (30-year-old female from western Tokyo)

A few years ago, I had a sudden outbreak of atopic dermatitis. When the symptoms were severe, I used a dermatologist-prescribed medicine and ointment until the symptoms got better, and then I would stop using the medications. This summer the dermatitis on my face got worse. It was constantly itchy and I couldn’t concentrate on my work. I was feeling down about this when my roommate recommended Tao Shiatsu to me.
At the first treatment when the practitioner asked me whether it would be possible to think about discontinuing use of the medication in order to get an accurate measurement of the Tao Shiatsu treatment, I was hesitant. I honestly didn’t know whether I could continue with the Tao Shiatsu treatments without also using medication. But I later made up my mind to have faith in Tao Shiatsu. I quit taking my Chinese medicine and started weekly treatment.
Now, three months later, my dermatitis is better. At a dermatologist’s office the doctor usually only takes only a few minutes to prescribe medication, but with Tao Shiatsu the practitioner devoted himself to me in each one-hour treatment. I also felt understood and supported. I am so glad that I trusted Tao Shiatsu.

Comment by the attending practitioner

When K.T. visited us for the first time, she seemed to be suffering a lot. Maybe it was from overwork; it seemed to me that her body, expressing itself with the symptoms of atopic dermatitis, was overstressed and worn out and that it was ready to give up.
At her second treatment, K.T. said that she had stopped taking medication for her condition. People who suffer from atopic dermatitis usually take medication because of the unbearable itchiness. They describe how hard it is to let go of their medicine, and this was the case with K.T. too. When I asked her whether she could quit taking her medication, her expression was full of uncertainty. But she said that she pushed her doubts aside and stopped taking the medication. I was surprised by her determination.
I prayed for K.T., who has trusted her own vitality and Tao Shiatsu in order to recover completely.
Fortunately, her workload calmed down and her symptoms gradually improved. K.T. has been relieved from the itchiness she felt and now there are more chances to see her smile.

I once received an urgent call from a man who was seeking help for his wife who was suffering from painful sciatica, not able to sleep and care for her two youngest children 18 month old twins. I met Y. later that day. She is a fit and slim 52 year old woman who has been suffering from sciatica since the birth of her twin boys at age 50 ! Recently she was unable to sleep because of the pain and could not lift her young children or be very active in their care because of her condition putting a lot of stress on her husband.
After the treatment I gave her my availability in the coming days and told her about possible reactions to the treatment. I did not hear from her.

After 6 months she phoned to make an appointment for herself and her mother. She had not experienced any sciatica during that time and wanted to bring her mother for care. She had only a small stiffness in the lateral leg.

A few years ago I was referred a woman in her 40’s who had pain in her arms following biopsy of her axilla for diagnosis of staging of her lung tumors. She was diagnosed with bilateral malignant tumors eight on the left and 12 on the right lung. Because of a past history of liver failure , she was unable to receive chemotherapy or surgery, because there were too many tumors present. When she came to me for treatment she was experiencing terrible pain on her right arm and leg and pain in the region of her liver in the abdomen. She was also very tired and distressed. She was refuge from Mexico and was living here with her husband and teenage children and a 6 year old son with multiple handicaps who needed a lot of care so a lot of stress on top of her illness.
After a couple of months of treatment she stopped me at the beginning of the session and said “ I want to tell you how much this treatment has helped me” “ My oldest son told me, Mom you have changed so much recently, you don’t yell and get angry at us like before something is really different” She said “ You know , I am Happy now “ “ Before I was always troubled and worried and could not eat or sleep well” “Everything seems possible”

I have treated her now for over two years. She received MRI scans to follow her tumors size. After 6 month the growth slowed and then stopped, then the majority of the tumors began to shrink. The doctors had no explanation other than “Sometimes this happens”

She regularly expresses her gratitude towards the treatments and how they have affected her life and continue to do so.

For the past five years I have been a member of an organization called RIVO. It is a network of therapists who treat refugees who were victims of torture and oppression in their home countries, and have come to seek political asylum in Canada.

One such refugee was K. He was born in Algeria and became blind at the age of 25. In 1996, he had to flee the country because of civil war and violence. He lived in the United States until 2002, but after 9/11, and the discrimination against many Muslim immigrants, the U.S. government decided to deport him back to Algeria. Upon the advice of a Canadian friend, he fled to Montreal and took refuge in a church in the southwest part of the city. He could not step outside of the church, for fear of being captured by the authorities and deported back to Algeria. He was basically confined to a bedroom not larger than five or six square meters.

I treated K. during this time, every 2 weeks for about 2 years. Initially his Ki was so heavy, with fear, depression and anxiety. He had a lot of tension in his neck, head, shoulders, back and in his legs. But he responded very well to Tao Shiatsu treatment. He began to feel lighter after each session and appreciated it so much. He was having trouble sleeping at night, but after a treatment he would sleep and rest for a long time.

After one year of treatment, his condition had changed considerably. He was more hopeful and his attitude more positive to overcome the obstacles in his life. He started working out and taking better care of himself. After two years of treatment and nearly three years of living in the Church, he was finally granted permanent resident status in Canada. He moved into his own apartment and started putting his life back together. Our final treatments took place in his new home.